ENGINEERS dealing with contaminated ground at the old Dockerell Yachts site last week unearthed remnants of one of the earliest iron foundries in Tavistock.

The site, on Parkwood Road, is being redeveloped to provide new homes, but when the ground was being prepared a large area of oil-contaminated earth was found.

Rob Mathews, a consultant for Yeandle Geotechnical, which specialises in disposal of contaminated earth, said: 'We were called in when they dug an exploratory pit because they found all this contamination. We dug a series of holes to find the extent of it and unearthed the remains. We thought it was pretty exciting and called in the Exeter Archaeology Unit to have a look,' he said.

Martin Dyer, from the unit, recorded the remains and the pit will now be filled back in.

The remains consist of the stone-walled pit, where twin water wheels were housed, and the tunnel through which spent water ran in to the River Tavy. The bricked-up tunnel-opening over the river is also visible from Vigo Bridge, it is planned to re-open this as part of the storm drain system.

The wheels powered a foundry, which was one of the first in the area at the start of the 19th century. It disappeared in the 1840s, though the wheels continued to power other industries for a while, before they too were removed and the pit was covered over.

Mr Mathews said they had pumped as much as eight cubic metres, approximately eight tonnes, of contaminated water from the pit into a tanker, which would dispose of the waste at a special site.

He said the ground would be clean by the time they had finished and present no problems to the people who will eventually live there.

The dumping of such waste is an offence. An investigation is underway to find those responsible who may be liable for the cleaning up costs.

Mr Mathews said the survey they had done suggested the leat exit into the River Tavy had been blocked up and he said he did not think any of the contamination had entered the river.

Building is expected to get underway shortly and to be completed within about nine months.